film: The love of Sam
J.O Rhee, The Peak

I came, I saw, and I left, with tears in my eyes after watching the film I Am Sam. Sam Dawson (Sean Penn) is a mentally-challenged man who is left to raise his daughter. Upon her birth, Sam names her after the Beatles' song "Lucy in the Sky of Diamonds", apparently he is a huge Beatles fan. Although Lucy's mother, a homeless woman, abandons her daughter, Sam nevertheless looks after and dotes on Lucy, with the help of Annie, an agoraphobic neighbour portrayed by Dianne Wiest, and his friends, all performed by the real-life mentally-challenged individuals. He holds a job as a busboy at Starbucks, which enables him to provide for Lucy as best as he can.

As Lucy reaches the age of seven, her intellectual capacity begins to surpass her father's, and this is when problems begin to emerge. A social worker intervenes and takes Lucy away from him, and startes a prolonged fight for the custody of his daughter.

With the help of his friends, he turns to Rita Harrison, a corporate workaholic perfectionist lawyer. Initially Rita (Michelle Pfeiffer), also a parent but not exactly the "Parent of the Year" Award winner, turns him away evidently he can't afford her. When her colleagues laugh at the idea that she has a heat, Rita decides to represent Sam pro bono as a challenge to prove them wrong. What follows is a series of courtroom drama scenes where both sides of the argument are equally well-presented, while the likelihood of losing his daughter to a foster family becomes imminent.

The diamonds of the film are the stunning performances. Sean Penn's performance is impressive and sensitively done, without caricaturing the character's mental disability. He completely immerses himself into his character without going overboard. Michelle Pfeiffer is fearless as the bitchy ambitious lawyer who learns a thing or two about being a parent after spending some time with Sam. Dakota Fanning's portrayal of Lucy is both refreshing and endearing with natural maturity.

However, the film tended to bonk my head with its obvious juxtapositions and comparisons between the Sam's parenting and other "normal" people's parenting. Also I became suspicious as big-name companies such as Starbucks and Pizza Hut kept looming in the background, throughout most of the scenes, as if to desperately inform me that they really are equal opportunity employers.

Since Sam loves the Beatles, their songs are sprinkled generously throughout the film, and the covers are performed by various artists including Sheryl Crow, Ben Harper, Sarah McLachlan, Eddie Vedder, and Rufus Wainwright. There are some moments where the songs work extremely well , and others that just seem to clunk the gym sneakers hanging from the back of your backpack.

Although the film's message is "all you need is love" as the Beatles once said, you also need a lot of support from those around you, especially when reality kicks in.

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